


Everything is Easy

by HolleringHawk65



Category: Batman Beyond, Daredevil (TV), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-14 07:10:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4555419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolleringHawk65/pseuds/HolleringHawk65
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matt finds a toddler scared out of her wits one night. His best idea? Hand her over to high school graduate Peter while he figures out what had her so freaked out.<br/>Everything gets even more complicated when Batman shows up in New York.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I felt really bad after that other story I wrote so here's this because it will be fluff eventually and dad!Matt is like my fav even though that's not what this is centering around? Bear with me it's almost midnight.

In retrospect, the whole “devil” thing really isn’t good for a public image. Matt was able to ignore that--he wasn’t really doing it for the public of newspapers and late night television, he was doing this for Hell’s Kitchen, doing it to save his neighborhood.

This neighborhood happened to also be home to children.

Normally, this wasn’t a problem, and it wasn’t really a problem right now, but he could hear a child in this alley. He softened his voice when he asked them to come out, hoped he could coax them into his arms and take them somewhere safe… But what kid would want to come with him?

Eventually, he just sat down and the kid came out. “You’re not going to hurt me, are you? Those other people are after me.”

Judging from voice alone, the girl could only be a toddler. “I’m not going to hurt you Do you have any family that I could take you to?”

”Nuh-uh, Mr. Daredevil.”

He easily picked her up before mentally sighing. There was no way that _he_ could take care of her, not with how busy his work load was getting. He couldn’t pass her off to Karen or Foggy either. “I’m going to take you somewhere safe, okay?”

She nodded as her short arms tried to hold onto his suit. “I trust you, Mr. Daredevil, honest!”

* * *

 

Peter had just started to drift on when the doorbell rung. He groaned as he got up, trying to keep his weight off of his ankle that was still healing. He looked through the peephole to see-

“Matt?” he said as he opened the door. He was out of his suit, which was weird for him (but the button down and jeans were a _fantastic_ look, don’t get Peter wrong), considering that it was barely after midnight. “What’s wrong?”

“Marilyn here is afraid that someone is after her and I thought that it would be alright if you watched her while I get to the bottom of it,” he explained as he shifted the drowsy girl in his arms. “I have cash to give you to cover any expenses she might have, including new clothes and quality food. If this continues longer than I thought it would, I’ll be happy to get you more.”

Normally, Peter would be more than a little offended that someone would just assume he’d do something for them, but this was Matt and here was this little girl… And it’s not like classes were in session, it was the summertime. It also secretly pleased him to no end that an older superhero was coming to him for help. “How should I explain this to Aunt May?”

”Tell her the truth: you’re doing this to help me, your friend. I thought that she liked me?’

She also liked Agent Coulson… granted, not a bad guy, but still. _Coulson._ “She knows that you’re a good guy,” Peter said after a moment before holding his arms out in order to hold the girl. “Do you want any coffee or something before you go?”

Matt shook his head as he took out his wallet and counted out quite a few twenties. “Thank you for the offer though. I should get going; I’ll call you later to check in?”

Whenever Matt asks a question in that tone, it’s not really a question. He’s just trying to make himself seem less forceful than his alter ego (it doesn’t really impress people who know both)... Peter also had no idea what ‘later’ was in his book, but he hoped it didn’t contradict with getting Marilyn new clothes. “Sounds like a plan. G’night, Matt!”

Even in her drowsiness, Marilyn waved goodbye to her savior as he bid them good bye and walked out and away into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm doing a thing but I'm not sure that I like the thing so let's see where this goes ;) Let me know what you think!

”So you’re playing babysitter and won’t be able to go out on patrol with us?” Ava asked, arms crossed.

Peter sighed as he stood in the kitchen doorway, keeping one eye on Marilyn eating her breakfast of scrambled eggs. “I’m not ‘playing babysitter.’ I’m watching a toddler for a friend for a few days.”

”A friend who’s remaining unnervingly anonymous!” she pointed out.

”She better be pretty, Parker,” Sam told him. “It’s going to be really annoying having Fury breathing down our necks with you gone.”

”I’ll be back in a few days,” he reminded them, for the fifth time in the past few minutes. “Plus it’ll fit in with the whole ‘I sprained my ankle’ in gym thing with Aunt May.” He leaned on the crutch Aunt May had insisted he’d use for emphasis.

Sam huffed. “Fine, but you’re paying for pizza next weekend.”

Peter nodded as Sam started walking out. “Deal!”

Ava waited a moment after Sam had walked out to talk again. “So are you going to tell me who the friend is or do I have to look through the surveillance tapes?”

There was no way that Peter was about to out Matt in any way. He didn’t like keeping things from his team, but he’d teamed up with Daredevil before he was a part of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Matt had never (to his knowledge, at least) told anyone Spider-Man’s real identity. “You can look through the surveillance tapes, but they won’t help you much. I’m just doing a friend a favor.”

”I don’t like this, Peter,” she admitted. “I trust your instincts though.”

”I hope so, considering how much we rely on spidey sense,” he tried to joke, earning a smile.

”I should get going. Talk to you tonight?”

”Yeah! See you later, Ava.”

She hugged him quickly before heading out. “Later, Pete.”

* * *

 

They were in the checkout line of the kids’ clothing store when Marilyn--who liked to be called “Ri” like in the last syllable of “Mari”--tugged on the hem of Peter’s shirt. She was pointing excitedly towards the toy store across the way. From here, Peter could see that they had a display of cloth superheroes.

Matt had given them $300 and they were only spending $105 here (thank god for summer sales), and that was more than plenty to get a toy or two. “We can check them out after I pay here,” he promised.

The cashier gave him a funny look, like she was trying to figure out the relation between the two and was bothered by all of the options. At this point, he really didn’t care. He was as courteous as possible, and tried his best to make it easier for her by already having the cash out (though he was insulted on the inside when she checked to see if it was counterfeit). As soon as she handed him the receipt and he told her to have a good day, he grabbed the two bags and one of Ri’s hands before walking out of the store.

He stopped outside of the store to pick Ri up in one arm, which was a little bit easier than having her walk beneath him. They were about to go into the toy store when-

”Peter?”

He jumped at the sound of the voice, turning to see none other than Felicia Hardy. She was in a baby blue tank top and black denim shorts, looking as innocent as a regular teenager. “Felicia! Hi.”

She looked at the child and then back to him. “I heard a rumor about a certain pointy horned superhero and a little girl last night…”

He tightened his grip on the shopping bags. “Yeah?”

”I heard about a new player, too, for our game.” Her eyes darted to Ri once again. “Monopoly, that is.”

”Do you want a get out of jail free card?” he asked, thankful that she was giving him an analogy to work with. “Nobody has to know.”

She hummed. “Look, you’re not going to believe me. I didn’t really believe it myself, but somebody saw a _bat_ flying through the city. He might have something to do with it.”

”You’re right, I don’t believe you. But a deal’s a deal.” He sighed and didn’t even say goodbye to her before walking into the toy store.

 

* * *

 

”Alright, who’s your favorite superhero?” he asked Ri as they stood in front of the rows of plush toys.

”Robin! He’s a kid just like me.”

He wanted to point out that there were plenty of real life superheroes to choose from, but at the same time, he knew them all and they weren’t all that great. They had their perks, obviously but- “Yeah, the Bat family is pretty awesome.”

She giggled as he picked out the Robin toy and handed it over to her. “Do we want any other toys?”

“Mhmm! Starfire!”

”Starfire?” Well it’s possible that there was a superhero he didn’t know about. He’d fallen behind on comics recently. And maybe she was a cartoon only character or something.

”Um.” She blinked at him and suddenly seemed a lot older than a toddler. “Batgirl!”

He nodded. “We can do Batgirl.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much dialogue. There's going to be less next chapter! Maybe. I hope y'all enjoy this :)

Matt sighed. He had run through every database, looking for a “Marilyn Rivers” and then switching it to just “Marilyn”--there was no record of a girl her age any where near here.

He couldn’t spend any more time on this today, either, not with a court date coming up, which frustrated him even more. Maybe he could talk to her later? Get more information _some how_. His stomach growled as he reached for a file.

He smiled as an idea formed. The case could wait until later.

* * *

 

Terry got thrown into the billboard, the creep with the tentacles still coming after him.

"What's S.H.I.E.L.D. come up with now, hm? A man in a bat suit? I hate to break it to them, but we're not in a comic book, and this certainly is no Gotham City."

He shakily got up. _I just have to find Marilyn and then we can get the fuck out of this crazy universe._ He drew a Batarang, ready to throw it at this creep's head, when four other costumed people showed up. He'd let them take care of this.

One of them, someone in a white tiger suit, saw him move--no surprise, he was in a black costume in broad daylight--and looked liked they were about to call out to him, when the villain lashed out.

Normally, Terry wouldn't run away from a fight, but in this crazy place, he had to if he had any hope of finding Marilyn.

* * *

 

Peter pulled his phone out of his pocket when he heard it ringing. The number--one that he had never bother to use, just had it programmed just in case--came up as 'Chinese Takeout' even though the local place was also in his phone. It took him a second to remember that he had programmed Matt's firm as that but he answered just in time.

"Hey Matt, what's up?"

"How'd you know who it was?" he asked. Peter would have slapped himself had he not been holding all of the shopping bags and Ri in one arm, his phone in the other--Matt didn't know he had the number. It probably looked a more than a little stalker-ish. "Nevermind. I'm about to send Foggy to get pizza, did you want to come for lunch?"

He was kinda far away from Hell's Kitchen. He wasn't even 100% sure which trains to use to get there from the shopping center. "Um..."

"Sorry, I know that you must have your hands full with Marilyn. It was stupid of me to ask."

"Can you come by for dinner instead? Aunt May is going out on a date. We could get take out or something. And you could see--or, um, feel I guess?--everything we got today! Ri's super sleepy from all of it right now anyway."

"Sure, I can do that. How does six sound?"

By this point, Peter was blushing like crazy. He knew, of course, that Matt only wanted to spend time th him because he was taking care of Ri, but it was _so nice_ to have his attention for once.

"Sounds great! See you later, Matt."

* * *

 

“Peter, I know that you’re taking a break from the team, but this guy--we’ve never seen him before. He’d done a lot of damage to Doc Ock before taking a beating himself, and then he just vanished when we showed up,” Ava explained.

Peter finished tucking Ri in for a nap on the couch. “So you’re telling me that _Batman_ is running around New York City?”

“I guess? I know it sounds unbelievable, but… he was there. I’m sure we could get security footage so you could see him for yourself.”

“No, I believe you. Felicia told me that there was a ‘bat’ in the city… It just seems really weird, doesn’t it?”

“I thought you’d be over the moon. Aren’t you a comic book nerd?”

“Hey,” he pushed her shoulder, smiling. “You are too.”

“True.” She looked over at Ri, trying not to frown at the little girl. Something just seemed… off. “What are your plans tonight? Wanna watch a movie or something?”

“Sorry, Matt’s coming over for dinner, since Aunt May’s out.”

“Matt?”

“Did I say Matt? I meant Nate. Ri’s caretaker. Actually, he should be here any minute, so maybe you should be going-”

“Can I at least meet him? Peter, I’m worried about this. About _you_.”

“Aunt May knows him. She likes him. Nothing to be worried about.” Except that the doorbell just rang.

Ri started to wake up. “Mattie here?”

Peter sighed and scooped her up. “I think so, let’s go check.”

It was, of course, Matt, standing there in more casual clothes than usual, but looking every bit as good. “Hey.”

“Mattie!” Ri cooed, reaching out for him. “Petey bought me toys!”

“And clothing,” he added hastily. “Mostly clothing.”

Matt smiled as he stepped in. “It’s fine, Peter. Who’s your friend?”

“Ava Ayala. Who are you?”

“Matt Murdock,” he held out his hand. “Peter’s told me a lot about you.”

“Funny, you’ve never come up in our conversations.”

He laughed, clearly trying to diffuse the situation. “I’m not very surprised. I’m a lawyer, so there’s not much for two high schoolers to talk about in regards to me.”

“You’re a lawyer? How did you two meet?”

“I’ve taken some photos for his firm,” Peter blurted out.

Matt smiled at Ava. “Foggy, my partner at the firm, tells me that they came out great.”

“You’re blind?”

“It’s part of the reason that I had Peter get Marilyn some clothes. I’m afraid that she would look awful, since I can only tell so much by the feel of a fabric.”

“Oh. I guess I should be going then. Have fun tonight!”

“Bye Ava, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Matt chipped in.

“You too, Mr. Murdock.”

“Avie!” Ri cooed from Peter’s shoulder, trying to reach out for her as she walked out. When the door closed, they all seemed to sober up.

“Apparently, Batman is here,” Peter told Matt. “Do you think that has anything to do with Ri?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. I tried looking her up but there wasn’t anything.”

Ri was falling asleep again, head on Peter’s shoulder. “What do you think we’re dealing with here?”

Matt shrugged. “I have no idea, but I think we’ll find out soon if this Batman is after her.”

Peter stared at him as an idea came to him. “You know that I have no patience.”

Matt raised an eyebrow. “What are you suggesting?”

“We’re going to need some chimichangas.”


End file.
